"Come out, come out, little princess! Let me take you back to your mama!"

The heavy voice echoes through the air, the disgusting tone with which the monster belched once again making Girshu cringe. The big creature had been shouting at the town gates for what felt like hours now, screaming for some outsider to be delivered to him. If the villagers wouldn't comply, he and the many smaller creatures that followed him would make them regret their decision. Or at least, that's what he boasted.

Girshu didn't particularly care. He was an outsider in this village too, but he was clearly not the outsider they were looking for. This problem had nothing to do with him, and even the villagers could tell. The being outside was looking for a woman, an unscaled and a humanoid. All feats that were clearly not part of his description. Not his problem, not his worry.

Girshu glances at the wall again, despite being unable to see the creature shouting behind it. He could only hear its disgusting tone as it kept shouting profanities and redicule. The creature didn't even sound that intimidating, just big and probably fat. The fear that the villagers had for this being was the only thing that unsettled Girshu. Their whispers of 'oni', whatever those creatures were, almost made it sound like they were facing a demigod here. Not like Girshu placed much stock in the powergaging of villagers. Their understanding of the world outside their little town was minimal, and riddled with superstition. The fact that they made their walls from bamboo and primarily used simple iron weapons spoke volume of that.

"You better come out now, princess! You lot better drag her out here, if you want to live! I'm getting impatient!" The voice belches. At the very least, it was somewhat impressive how he switched effortlessly from common to the local dialect called 'mandarine' whenever he spoke to his bounty or the people here. Not that Girshu could tell if it was truly flawless, he didn't speak either language fluently.

Girshu continues to wait in the shade, loitering and waiting impatiently for the night to come. It was too warm for him to travel under the sun, far too warm. And these damn bamboo forests didn't even offer him a proper canopy of shadow for a respite from the damnable sun. If they couldn't even do that right, what worth did they even have as vegetation?

With any luck, the oni would wait for Girshu to leave before he would attack. It would be quite a nuisance if he'd break down the shade that Girshu used, and a shame if any of his stuff would get damaged. Or perhaps those villagers would comply. There were whispers that they were searching for this woman that the oni wanted, that they found her, that they captured her. Honestly, with the way that those three alternated, the only thing that was clear was that no one really knew what was real and what was mere hopeful rumours.

"Now I hope that you're still in there, you little minx! I know you haven't escaped through the air, but I would be mighty irked if you slipped out of my grasp otherwise! I might just kill every last man, woman and child in this settlement just to vent some of the anger that your escape would cause!"

A few more minutes passed without response.

"Don't you even bother running away, princess! You can hope to fly faster than me, but those Karasuko will turn you into minced meat! We both know they hate you a lot more than me!"

More silence.

"Damn it, come out here already! You insufferable excuse for a demon! I will burn this whole province down if it means that I can pull you from the ashes!"

The silence continues, this time almost palpable when the villagers all turn pale and breathlessly wait. They could feel the anger in the air, the serious tone in the oni's voice. Girshu merely sighs and covers his face with the straw hat that he picked up in a kiosk around here.

Chartora had successfully protected yet another merchant deliver his goods to yet another no name little village. At least this one had some decent scenery. All she wanted now was some down time to relax after fighting several brigands after the merchants guys.

The bamboo forests were nice and she found it relaxing to just fly over them feeling the wind in her hair. Sometimes different flocks of birds would join her during her flights until her laughter rang out then they would squawk at her and fly off angrily. Oh, well.

Landing just outside the small village she wandered it's streets making note of anything that might pose a threat to her self imposed vacation. One thing of note kept itself under the shade of the bamboo trees its face covered by a straw hat. It appeared to be some sort of lizard creature. She had enough trouble in her past to give it a wide berth.

Then the bellowing started. Crap. Her mother had found her yet again. Looking around she saw the villagers staring at her. Yep they wanted to try to capture her and give her to it to save themselves. She stood up straighter meeting the leader of the little mobs eyes.

“You'll find if you try to capture me it will not go well for you little man.”

He looked around him at the men he had assembled to take her then looked at her standing there battle hardened and loose. If he was surprised by her speaking his tongue he didn't show it.

“What would you have us do? We have to save our village. One demon in exchange for us.”

She sighed why did it always come to this? She felt her temper starting to rise.

“You know what? Just go away and I'll take care of it.”

She turned and headed towards to sound of the demon bellowing at the gate. Pausing in front of it she took her bow off her back and nocked 3 arrows. She rolled her shoulders then bending her legs slightly she used the extra force to rapidly launch herself into the air. As soon as she cleared the gate and the demon spotted her she shot all three arrows. One hit each of its eyes the third hit its forehead a perfect shot for the hidden third eye. Or it would have been if the thing hadn't been wearing a helmet.

Leave it to her mother to make things interesting. At least it was blind until it could heal. It stumbled into the gate breaking it under its huge body. And it was now angry. She should probably feel bad about that but they had been ready to feed her to it, so the heck with it. It wasn't until it started heading towards the lizard thing her inner debate ended and she decided to kill the large thing quickly.

Sighing she dropped her elevation to just behind its head. Taking out she tried to pry the helmet off and that's when she saw it was actually part of the thing's head. What in the heck was this thing? She had heard through rumors her mother was experimenting but this thing was just… she pushed those thoughts aside as she landed and pulled her dagger. Slicing through where it's achilles tendon should be did what she hoped it would as it screamed and fell it's feet no longer able to support it. Unfortunately it partially crushed one of the houses, whoops.

Now that the head and neck was within her reach she started sawing at the things neck with her dagger. Get task made harder by having to dodge punches and frequently punch a demon that did not want it's head slowly cut off.

Something was changing. The people were still restless, but they were restless in a different way. They were grouping up, gaining aggression, focussing on one thing. Girshu could hear it and see it a bit through the holes in his reed hat. Mildly interested, he raises it and looks at what was causing the change.

There was a woman standing in the centre of the group, and she was clearly a foreigner. The wings suggested that much. The villagers surrounded her, clearly in the process of forming a mob to take her down. The woman stood defiantly, clearly not too frightened of the prospect. Girshu wouldn't have been either, if he had wings. He could just fly up. He didn't know if she would do the same, or if she would stand and fight. The latter would be madness, sheer numbers were hard to overcome without some area of effect spells. But it would be fun to watch. When humans were this desperate, such fear turned into the strangest kinds of bravery and rage. And as usual, it turned their aggression to the smaller foe, rather than the real one.

Words were exchanged between the woman and the villagers. She didn't seem too eager of the idea that they'd tie her up, wrap a ribbon around her and hand her over to the oni outside on a silver platter. The villagers got more anxious and thus more self-righteously angry, and the woman got more impatient. Good, the situation was about to escalate. A smile forms on Girshu's face. This was going to be fun.

A villager approaches Girshu, speaking their weird dialect in a ragged and terrified manner that made it even more uncomprehensible to him than usual. Girshu waved the woman away, saying that he's not who she thinks he is. From what few words he understood, she either thought he was with the oni and wanted him to go report that they had the woman, or she wanted to hire him for the fight. Girshu didn't care which one it was, they were both a hassle. And she was interrupting his show, just as it was about to get good.

Girshu frowns agitated when he turns his attention back to the mob, only to see that the situation had since defused itself. The woman was walking towards the gates, pulling out her bow. Seemed like she was going down fighting. Which worked for him, that should be entertaining to watch in its own right. Taking flight and shooting arrows at the oni quickly, she began the fight. The oni countered quickly by falling over and breaking through the gates. He was even bigger than Girshu thought, and a lot uglier too. With armour nailed directly onto his skin and enough body mass to break through a two humans tall gate like it was made out of twigs, he was an ugly yet imposing figure.

The villagers scream and wail, most of them immediately running away when the oni falls through their gates. What was a rather embarrassing and childish display of thrashing about blindly for Girshu, must be a greatly intimidating show of monstrous power for them. Two arrows stuck out of his eyes and a third was embedded in his helmet, in the middle of his forehead. Seemed like the woman had quite the aim, went for the kill-shot immediately, and then blinded the creature when it didn't work. Impressive.

The oni himself was not as impressive. Blindly lashing around, he smashed the broken down gates into firewood. None of his attacks even got close to the woman, who was still flying above and far out of his reach. The only thing that resembled any sign of intelligence was the way he pulled out the arrows from his eyes, but other than that he was quite a disappointment for the beast of horrors that the villagers' whispers had promised. He might be a persistent foe and difficult to take down, but Girshu saw no reason to fear him otherwise. Not even as it began to blindly charge in his direction did Girshu bother to move.

The woman landed on the beast's head, jerking at his helmet and then jumping down to cut the creature's ankles. The oni fell through several houses, thrashing about again and ensuring maximal destruction of the property. He was almost like a weaponised baby, Girshu thought. A regenerating, fat baby. Not at all entertaining to watch. Girshu instead turned his attention to the other creatures who rushed into the village. They were smaller and clearly less powerful, but at least they weren't failing as badly.

Most of them were locals, or so Girshu assumes. They wore clothing in a similar style to the villagers, if they wore clothes that is, and their shabby appearance and weapons suggested that there weren't anything but local nuisances. Not that the villagers were so unperturbed by it. Screaming of yokai and oni, they fled from the strange-looking wolves and a race of turtlefolk that Girshu remembered were called kappa. There were some undead amongst the invaders too, and other weird humanoids. Their clubs and claws clashed with the simple spears from the village militia. Girshu took from context that these creatures were too weak to besiege the village by themselves, instead gathering behind this bigger and more powerful oni when he appeared. Considering the village defences and troops, it only spoke volumes of how unimpressive these monsters had to be.

Only a few of the invaders seemed otherworldly like the big guy, and they weren't running wildly into the village. Girshu watches these outsiders with a mild sense of wariness, just in case one of them shared the serious power level that the big guy had. Most of the horned red minions clearly weren't, their morale and discipline was barely any higher than the local bandits they recruited. Some even joined the chase after the villagers. A few others weren't as easy to gage. These outsiders came with quite the variation, some resembling their peers in nothing at all. But none of them seemed to care for him, so he didn't concern himself with them.

Seeing a new show in the making, Girshu turns away from the woman and the big baby and instead looks at the main square. A small group of men in reed armour with spears was trying to stop the local monsters from rushing into their village even further. They were pushed back, and the monsters were getting cocky. Girshu didn't particularly care for that though. He was more interested in the guy in pyjamas who just entered the scene. This jerk had approached Girshu before when he entered the village, warning him in the most enfuriatingly arrogant way that he would strike Girshu down if he'd cause any trouble. He was some kind of nobleman around here, and a wanna-be fighter with too much time on his hands. And clearly not too experienced, because he proudly brandished a sword much too thin to be effective. Whatever these katanas were, this was clearly a badly designed one. Way too thin to survive clashing blades or striking bone, and curved too. What kind of sword was curved?

It seemed the local monsters respected the man in pyjamas though, because they stepped back and avoided his path when he appeared. The man confidently strided forwards, hand on his sword and the other holding on to something. One of the outsiders steps forward, one of the horned red humanoids, though this one had wings and stood taller. He brandished a sword that almost looked like it was made of black stone and taunted the pyjama man to attack him.

Girshu quickly glanced to the side to see whether the baby oni and the woman weren't getting near. No, they were still a decent distance away from him. Good. Girshu looked back at the two duelists, seeing how the man in pyjamas was walking closer without unsheathing his sword. When he was just two steps away from the outsider, he suddenly threw the salt from his other hand into the outsider's face. His sword is quickly brandished, swiping at the red man and…

The man in pyjamas screams in pain and surprise as the horned red man slaps him to the side with one arm, rubbing the salt from his face with the other. Pyjamas is thrown almost three meters to the side by the love tap, quickly jumps up and screams something. It seemed like the other villagers were just as unsettled. Examining the siege more closely, it looked like more villagers were throwing salt at the invaders. It didn't seem to affect the outsiders at all, much to the horror of the locals. Seems like they were expecting the same reaction as with the local monsters, who fell prone or even seemed to melt when the salt hit them. What a weird effect.

The winged outsider walks towards the man in pyjamas and kicks him, sending him flying several feet up. Pyjamas gets up again, his cocky attitude now replaced with the air of someone who's only priority was surviving.

Girshu smiles, this was going to be a good show.

Daggers were not made for cutting through foot and half thick necks. By the time she had finished the job she was covered in blood and looked very much like the demon the villagers had accused her of being. On top of that the sounds she had been hearing while focused on her task showed themselves to be the villagers being slaughtered by lesser demons from her mother mixed with beings from the woods. Somedays it doesn't pay to get out of bed.

Sighing wearily she pushed to her feet and quickly took stock of the situation while tucking her dagger away. Many of the villagers were down either hurt or dead, not really her fault, but she still felt a little bad if she hadn't come here her mother wouldn't have sent the demons.

She grabbed the head of the dead demon and threw it in the direction of it lieutenant. Nothing like a four foot round head bounding through a fight to catch some attention. The slight pause was enough for her to rip three demons in half and grab two of their swords. Twirling her wrists to get a feel for the weapons she grinned she hadn't had a fight like this in quite some time. She only wished her brother were here to help her out. There was no way she getting out of this one unscathed.

She headed to where the fighting was heaviest only slowing down to behead stray demons or local monsters that appeared to melt when dead, nice. Wading into the thick of things the villagers initially threw their salt at her however after she smacked a couple with the broad side of her swords for their trouble they left her alone to go to her deadly work.

She had always thought of battle as more of a dance then anything else. So when she spun and found herself facing a contingent of foes 20 strong her tinkling laugh rang out and dodged and weaved among them gracefully. She felt herself getting minor cuts from weapons but paid them no mind as the ones holding the weapons fell to her dual sword either headless or melting. She used her wings to take the brunt of the damage knowing they would heal faster. They also served to disarm more than one demon that thought to cut off a wing and keep her on the ground. Silly demons she had no intention of flying off right now she was having fun.

She had just cut a path to the village leader and the lieutenant when she saw the demon turn and run. Hmm to give chase or to not give chase? Taking a quick look around she saw the other demons and monsters also running away. Weird. Dropping the swords and grabbing her bow she let fly with three arrows stopping the lieutenant from fleeing. Stalking up to him she grabbed another sword on the way. Reaching him she placed the tip at his throat.

“Hello ugly wanna tell me why you attacked this village?”

Rather then answer the demon vanished in a puff of black smoke returning to her mother. Well that answered that question. Taking a look around she saw the villagers starting to clean up the mess that had been made. She could help them but again they were ready to sacrifice her to a demon. She saw an area that wasn't too badly damaged near the lizard thing and headed in that direction dropping the sword. She cast heal as she went wincing with the feeling of the cuts closing. She found a semi shady spot not to near the lizardy thing and laying down with a groan let her wings stretch out a bit.

Girshu sighs, disappointed and not particularly entertained by the show. For all the enjoyment he took out of Pyjamas being tenderized, the winged guy was taking too long. With the samurii- sama ray- sameria? Screw it, Pyjamas works. With Pyjamas' will broken and his body covered in bruises, there was little purpose in torturing him any further. The villagers' morale was already as low as his misery would bring it, and he was broken in spirit. Girshu hated padding run-time, this show had terrible pacing.

The winged girl was more entertaining to watch, at least after she was done cutting off the big baby's head. Why the other outsiders didn't help their leader was beyond him, but perhaps they simply didn't want to come near that bull-ride of destruction. It didn't matter, the head came off and rolled through the battlefield. Girshu looked at the severed neck, just to be sure. This guy showed the ability to regenerate, but it didn't seem like he was going to grow another head any time soon. Meanwhile, the girl walked into battle.

Confiscating two swords and dual-wielding through the battlefield as if the others were just actors scripted to die, she added even more blood to her already new scarlet look. She took a few scratches once she stopped taking out the strays strategically, but even the superior numbers didn't seem to do much against her. A few surface wounds and scratched, but nothing serious. Even when she ran into a grouping of 20 strong, which was almost half the troops attacking this place to begin with, she wasn't on the losing hand.

Girshu looks up, just in case something was about to come down upon her and possibly include him as collateral. He didn't think that they'd use some kind of powerful artillery magic or something to blow her up along with the entire village, but it couldn't hurt to check. No, if they had something like that and wanted her dead, they wouldn't have introduced themselves first and tip her off. Either they wanted her alive, or they had no such abilities. Probably both.

Still, something wasn't adding up. This was too easy for her. Much too easy. Whomever these people are, could they have really misjudged her strength this badly? They might've stood a chance if they had the element of surprise or no other enemies, but this brazen attack on the village and a good portion of their troops being needed for the village defenses was just terribly stupid. And as much as that level of intelligence might suit the big baby, one didn't gain such a well-equiped army without intelligence. Someone wouldn't be able to recruit so many yokai and still be fast enough to catch up and trap with a flying prey, unless they had a good plan. Whomever was behind this, and it probably wasn't the big baby, their plan was only just beginning.

Probably. Girshu didn't rule out sheer stupidity quite yet. There was a lot of it to go around in these parts, after all.

Girshu studies the other beings that were left. Was one of them a lot smaller, yet a lot more powerful? Perhaps, but he couldn't tell. He didn't recognise any of these creatures, nor could he actively gage their potential while they were just slaughtering villagers.

The winged guy sees the winged girl approach and immediately runs away, regrettably leaving Pyjamas alive as he does so. Suspicious. Why would a hunting party  allow their prey to kill the biggest guy so easily, and then run off once she did so? She caught up with the guy and asked him something that Girshu couldn't overhear, which the winged guy replied to by turning into smoke. Apparently he could do that. Apparently they could all do that, as a lot of the outsiders follow the winged guy.

The local menaces, decimated by the girl and with the tides suddenly turned, retreat quickly back through the broken down gates. They'd be back, once they regrouped and re-established the hierarchy. Without the gates, with this many wounded people and used salt, with the morale broken and their guy in pyjamas injured beyond moving for the next month or so, the village was all but done for. Even if they didn't know themselves, the local monsters only had to wait for infected wounds and severe injuries to kill off most survivors. Even if they couldn't think of it themselves, a nightly attack through the open gates without giving the villagers a warning to prepare would probably finish the village. The villagers' efforts to clean up the battlefield was in vain, an idle gesture to try and return nomalicy to a place that wouldn't regain such a concept any time soon.

Not that Girshu cared. They left him alone during the fight, and now they had to leave him alone until nightfall. He didn't care if the village would seize to be, he wouldn't be returning here anyway.

The woman looks over to him, and then approaches him. Girshu tenses up, but she merely wanted a spot of shade without blood. Which was a hard thing to find anywhere but near him. She sits down and starts healing her wounds, relaxing from the latest battle.

Girshu looks at her, back at the sky, and then back at the girl. Well, she was the most interesting part of this show…

"You know it'ss not over yet, right?" He says, breaking the silence.

"Thiss wass much too eassy, much too ssloppy." Girshu says after a few moments. "I don't know who you are, or who thesse people were. I honesstly don't care, either. But they were much too outclasssed by you for thiss battle to already be over. Do me a favour, make ssure you're not near me when it sstartss again. I don't want to get involved."

"Thiss wass too eassy. It'ss ssimple economics. They ssquandered sso many minionss with ssuch easse. Not the localss, one wouldn't have to care for them. Or the red horned minionss, really. There are plenty of beingss out there who can ssend numerous thalls to their deathss thiss eassily." Girshu continues [if Chantora questions him about why he would know and/or think that, if not he doesn't say this part and the next]. "No, it'ss the equipment that sspeakss volumess of thiss operation being a disstraction or ssomething. All thesse sswordss, all thesse armourss, all thiss gear. Together it'ss too valuable for ssuch a pointlesss operation. Together it could insstead be used to put a bounty on your head."

"And trusst me, the accumulative amount of gold here would attract bounty hunterss with the sskill to equal yourss. I know of five in the general area at leasst." Girshu says, knowing this because he always learned the names and faces of the significant hitmen and bounty hunters in the area, just in case they were sent after him. "Sso unlesss there'ss ssome reasson why thesse guyss want to catch you themsselvess, or for bounty hunterss not to be fit for bringing you to whoever wantss you, that'ss already one eassier way for your enemiess to catch you. And there sshould be otherss too, many of them. Meaning thiss can't posssibly be over already. Too ssimple."

She shivered laying this close to the lizard the temperature was noticeable colder than the surrounding area which piqued her interest. Her interest in the lizard was further piqued when it spoke. It had an odd accent with noticeable sibilant tones. She shook off her fatigue and distraction to listen to what he, she was certain it was a male, was saying. He'd thought through the fight and thought she fought through it with relative ease. Her aches and pains aside she was forced to agree. But why did he think so? Only one way to get the answer.

“Why do you think it was too easy? Names Chartora by the way.”

His answer was simple enough. Yeah Mother could have simply hired some of the bounty hunters and just been done with it. So why didn't she? She had a feeling come nightfall things were going to get very interesting in this little village which meant she had a choice to make. She could stay here and have the village completely destroyed or take the initiative and take the fight to them. She smiled wickedly as a wild plan started to form in the back of her mind. Unfortunately the plan she had in mind depended on the lizard next to her and so far he had shown no interest in getting involved. Nothing for it but to get a bit of his history and ask.

“If you don't mind me asking where are you from? [OOC I read his backstory so I'm up to speed there]. May I know your name as well? Girshu, huh? Pleasure to meet you. If it would be easier for you we can converse in Auran. [Switches languages]. Plus it'll be harder for others to eavesdrop on what we are saying. I have an idea if you're up for it. I think you're right about this not being over. I also think the real fighters are outside the village waiting for night to fall so they can slip in unnoticed and lay waste to the village in an attempt to get to me. It probably wouldn't work but I still just don't feel like waiting around. So want to have a bit of fun?”

She sits up carefully testing her muscles and flexing her wings. Everything was in working order and ready for more. Her crooked smile got wider.

“My plan if you accept is to have you hold the middle of my bow while I hold the string. I know it doesn't look like much but my bow has a 115.67kg draw. You look too weigh less than that. So while you hold the bow I'll fly you over the enemy you can the vaunted geluscentran ice powers to completely decimate them before they even know what's happening. So what do you think? Wanna go have some fun?”

The woman called Chantora seemed receptive of his warning, and a smile formed on her lips as she was clearly imagining what to do about it. The way she glanced over at Girshu put him on edge, he was already aware that she intended to draw him into the mess somehow. Instead of trying to recruit him though, she asks him about himself.

Girshu shrugged and shared his tale with her. Telling about his people and his glorious homeland in a definately not skewed and propagandised manner, and the reason for his exile conveniently short and vague, he informs her with what she needed to know. Halfway the conversation she suddenly switched to his native language, though in the common accent. Girshu, glad that he didn't have to bother with that annoying human common that required lips he didn't have, immediately switches to it as well. After concluding his tale with his quest and his stardardised question of whether she knew the location of any fire salamanders, he grew silent again. Somewhat reluctantly, he asks her about her origin story to return to gesture. And learn of the people who were after her, probably.

Girshu was right, her tale did hold some value in the current situation. The name of the mistress who orchestrated this little hunting party after her, and the reason for her being hunted. She also exposited about her race, some group of creatures called demons. Meh, he never heard of them so they couldn't be that impressive.

"I think you're right that this is not over. I also think the real fighters are outside the village, waiting for night to fall so they can slip in unnoticed and lay waste to the village in an attempt to get to me. It probably wouldn't work, but I still just don't feel like waiting around. So, want to have a little fun?"  Chantora asks. Girshu sighed, knowing that she hadn't listened to his story out of interest rather than trying to get his good graces. Whatever idea she had prior, his tale hadn't changed anything. If anything, whatever worked in the plan's favour would only convince her while anything contradicting would be ignored. A common shortcoming of the warmblooded. She explained some crazy idea that was more suicidal than rational, and Girshu rolls his eyes. Soaring through the sky while raining death from above did sound glorious, but this plan was riddled with shortcomings.

"As much as that sounds like a soundproof idea, I'm afraid there's a few hull breaches in it." Girshu said. "For starters, we have no idea where these creatures are setting up camp. I don't know what kind of power you thought I was boasting to have, but I can't level an entire forest at once."

"I mean, I can cover it in snow, but it wouldn't kill anyone."

"I mean, it would. But only weak people like these villagers, death by pneumonia and such. Not the snow itself." Girshu said, somewhat flustered. "Argh, you get the point. If we don't know where to shoot, they'll no doubt spot a flying target long before we would notice them."

"Second problem, I already saw that some of these guys have wings. Not to doubt your skills, but what you do think your odds are against unburdened winged assailants while you're busy keeping me aloft? We don't even know how many there will be like that, and how many more with long range spells."

"Lastly, and this is the big one." Girshu says. "Why would I?"

"I don't know what kind of altruïst you are, but I don't exactly put my neck out there for free." Girshu says, staring at the horizon. "If you say that these people will attack in the night, then I see no reason to be bothered by them. I'll leave at dusk anyway, and so can you. Just not at the same time as me, if you'd please. You'll probably be ambushed by these guys."

"So no. I see no reason to do this. Even if you'd somehow get these villagers to hoard all their valuables together and hand them to me, it would probably still be too little to warrant the danger of the mission. And that's not a jab at how poor these people are, though they are rather poor. Not to mention, I have no beef with these people. I don't know how vengeful they really are, but I rather not make myself the enemy of some unknown entity for naught." Girshu says.

Chartora found herself laughing at Girshu’s blunt honesty. It was refreshing to find someone so true to themselves. As she chatted with him she used her dagger to make more arrows. Centuries of practice with different materials ensuring they were not only usable but deadly.

“I like you Girshu. In this help others just to be helpful you are a rare breath of fresh air.” She chuckled again enjoying his company and the coolness near him. Easing herself into a more relaxed position as she worked she glanced at him sideways.

“You don't like fire creatures, right? I won't lie and say I don't use it, I am half demon after all. But I am also half angel so I can do this.”

Here she opened her hand and formed a ball of ice in it. Letting it grow a little before throwing it away. The hand that had formed the ice ball was very blue and looked partially frozen.

“I have partial immunity to cold whereas full demons have none. So the snow that you don't think would be deadly? It is very deadly and dangerous to a full demon. As far as finding them goes. I can find any demon especially the ones sent by my mother. And you wouldn't have to worry about her coming after you, dead demons tell no tales. Ah but talk is cheap, yes?”

She looked towards the shattered fencing where a gap showed. The smile that had yet to leave her again brightened as she stood up. There was as of yet nothing there but she knew what was approaching full tilt.

“Sooo rhetorical question… how do you feel about fire salamanders? Like…” she paused tilting her head as if listening, “hmmm six of them? And incidentally they know you're here and aren't happy to find a ‘cold one’ in residence.”

Then there was no more time to or discuss anything as the large creatures were upon them. She took out her bow knowing her fire would be all but useless against them and not wanting to get within reach of their deadly spears or tails. This was gonna hurt.

She knew she could easily take flight and avoid all their attacks but that would leave Girshu vulnerable alone on the ground. So she stood her ground. Taking time to nock two arrows and let them fly taking two of the great beasts in the head. She rolled then avoiding the charge of the others and took a tail to the side of her head when she wasn't quite fast enough. Freakin salamanders. Shaking away the birdies she spared a glance for the two she had shot and saw they were slowed but not down. She knocked two more arrows and shot them again this time the arrows went through their heads and they went down. She looked around for Girshu and found the other four had him cornered. Well heckfire how much of this was for her and how much was for him? Sprinting over to help him out she couldn't help but ask him.

“You anger anyone lately?”

A few more minutes passed with Chantora continuing the conversation while making some arrows. Girshu couldn't tell whether she was genuine or sweet talking him, but it didn't matter. His kind wasn't easily persuaded by words, their lack of social skills ensured that much. Her use of frost magic was more befriending though, and the casual mention of demons being creatures of fire did do a bit. But Girshu wouldn't let mere words sway him, still.

"Don't overestimate the snow. It's a blizzard, but that's still just wind and snow regardless." Girshu says. "Pneumonia and undercooling for the ill-prepared, but that's about it. Simple snow, just like the kind that falls during winter. At most it would-"

He grows silent as a waft of heat and sulfur reaches his skin and nose. Looking at the splintered gate, Girshu can almost see the hated creatures with his spirit eye before they actually appear. Fire salamanders. Those dreadful, awful creatures. Those disgusting, self-obsessed and destructive beings. Everything about them appalled him. Their slicker scales and frame, their clearly insuperior appearance with a bigger tail and only one set of arms, their pretentious so-called 'sophisticated look'. Fire salamanders were a disgusting creation. So when their awful purple-and-red bodies appeared and their heat wafted over the village street, Girshu bared his teeth and grew more frigid.

The two fire salamanders appeared, flanked by four fire naga. The difference between the two bright red snake centaur species wielding spears was obvious: The naga's finned ears had purple tips where the fire salamander's finned ears were all yellow and red. Their burning hair was more physical, slightly more affected by gravity and the wind. And their tails turned to torso a good four inches lower than the fire salamanders'. So it was clear to anyone what they were, for the racial differences were so obvious.

Girshu ignored the naga however, staring down the two fire salamanders in the middle. A man and a woman, clearly. It was obvious from the man's nostral and chin appendages being longer than the woman's and the pointiness of their chins what gender they were. Not at all as confusing as the variable humanoid difference between men and women. Women had long hair, except for when they hadn't or when men had the same. Men apparently had lower voices, though Girshu didn't hear the difference. And then there were those weird breasts that women had even when not pregnant, except that there were men with those lumps and women who didn't. Humans were confusing, not at all clearly genderised like these monsters. Apparently their only absolute gender difference was between their legs, always covered and thus useless. Humans were weird, having something that proluded from their body instead of functional and simple cloacas.

The two fire salamanders glared at Girshu with the same great loathing and hatred in their eyes. Their heat flared up a bit and the splintered gate bursted out in flames. Neither they nor the naga seemed affected by it, though the bamboo did suddenly explode here and there. It only gave the naga some nasty splinters, though nothing serious enough to take them out of commission. The few splinters that embedded themselves in the fire salamanders burned brightly and melted, quickly removing themselves from the shallow wounds.

The female fire salamander says something in Ignan, something that Girshu cannot understand. He knows all too well what she says, though. Anyone can recognise an insult in any language. He returns the jab with a curse of his own in Auran, and draws his rapier and wand. He calls forth his powers and casts them forwards in a large cone of cold, which clashes with the heat of the fires before him. A wall of mist explodes between them, obscuring Girshu while the bright salamanders are still very much visible in the form of bright silhouettes. Sharp projectiles of ice are launched through the mist, one following the other with no regard of whether the previous ones struck.

Girshu looks at Chantora, who was using the same strategy with her bow and arrows. She seemed more focussed on the naga, quickly taking out two of them with headshots. Not that it mattered, naga were mere nuisances compared to fire salamanders. Fire salamanders were all greatly talented in fire magic and even magma magic. The knock-off naga's pyromancy wasn't even-

Girshu jumps to the side as a ball of fire is tossed through the mist and hits a house nearby. It immediately bursts out into flames, making Girshu's cold skin sear immediately. He grunted, knowing the damned situation he was in. They didn't even need to aim properly, for anything they'd hit would aid their cause. This place was hot and flammable, a perfect environment for his opponents and not at all favourable to him. He needed a lot more energy to extinguish and cool the area than they needed to heat it up.

The mist before him was clearing up, showing the two fire salamanders and the two left-over naga. And a new figure, who was clearly not too bothered by the brightly burning fires around him either. The winged red horne- the demon seemed agitated and not at all pleased with the situation. Shouting loud enough for Girshu to overhear fragments of the conversation, it was clear that the fire salamanders were disobeying orders by attacking right now. Apparently the 'foolproof plan and great ambush' was ruined now. Girshu scowls, knowing that the opposite was true. The fire salamanders had even more of an environmental advantage now that it was still day, now that the sun still heated the land. A fight during the night, when the cold moon favoured his magic and the bright flames would only blind the pyromancers to the enemies lurking in the shadows, it would've been a lot more advantageous to him.

Girshu looks at his only real ally in this damned battlefield, and sees that she was still busy with the naga. Seemed like they followed the fire salamanders, fire naga did enjoy hot areas after all, but still obliged their original objective. She finished off the two she headshotted before, but had a nasty burn mark on her face from a tail whip. Not at all as bad as the fire salamander's tail, who not only burned intensely but also had a habit of wrapping around their prey quickly, but still clearly bothering her somewhat. The fire salamanders were quickly encroaching on him too, setting the village on fire as they did so and slowly heating the air so much that he was having trouble just summoning forth ice.

The situation was getting even more dire, it seemed. The demon wasn't alone, as more of his kind attacked the village. Most were pouring in through the broken gates, but plenty were burning or bashing their way through other portions of the wall instead. There was no telling how many of them there were, and how many were just the simple footsoldiers from before or more serious foes, but they were a problem nonetheless.

Girshu continues to cast more frost magic to keep the fire salamanders at bay, but he was fighting a losing battle. The bounty he was hunting was right in front of him, but the situation was not at all in his favour. There was no other reason but to

"Retreat!" Girshu shouts at Chantora in Auran as she runs towards him. Quickly sheathing his rapier and holding his hand in the air, he hopes that she gets the hint.

"You anger anyone lately?" She asks coyly, clearly not as bothered by the heat as Girshu.

"We need to get to some place without any easily burning vegetation and buildings." Girshu says, awkwardly trying to aim his hands behind him to put down some suppressing frost. "The mountain slope. Not cold enough to prevent them from chasing after us, but the bare rock won't give them a home turf advantage. They're nigh unbeatable in this damnable inferno, even for you. They've only shown the tip of the pyromancy that they're capable of when the area gets heated enough."

Demons fly up to chase after them, screaming and clawing at them. Annoyed by the pestering presence of the lesser beings, Girshu shoots one or two of them out of the sky. The others retreat back a bit, gathering for more organised attacks. Annoying. There were a whole lot more of them though, even when disregarding the ones who couldn't fly. Most were small, imps probably, but they were a nuisance nonetheless.